Spotlight: The Slaps
With a sound that's sweet and deeply nostalgic, Chicago-based band, The Slaps, has the power to win over your heart instantly. One listen is all it takes to be spun into their musical world, and feel emotions that you weren't aware of having. It doesn't take more than the first song for you to realize that their music is going to stay with you– a constant– in both, good times and bad.
The indie-rock group put out two EPs, A and B, in 2019 -though brief, these EPs were impactful and stunning, highlighting their growth as musicians.
The EPs – in which the band believes they sound quite younger than they are now – are powerfully personal, consisting of stories collected by the band over their lives.
Speaking of how their sound evolved through these projects, they share, “I think that A and B saw us try out a lot of different styles. We managed to put a lot of different types of songs on those two records. I feel that we are slowly getting to a place where we can sonically mix a lot of those elements together in one song. We’re still a very young band, and young in general, but I think that with every song we write, we figure something new out.”
Over the years, The Slaps has not only managed to gain quite a following of avid listeners, but also a considerable amount of Instagram followers. Social media is undoubtedly a great way to connect with their audience and display their honest personalities, and about this, the band has to say, “Instagram has given us a platform and a community of listeners, who I think truly want to know what the three of us are up to. We keep the mystery alive up there. On social media, it’s not just about the music.”
This approach seems to have worked great for them, as artists and people. It's hard to forget The Slaps, once you've listened to their music and looked through their Instagram.
Speaking of their influences and inspirations, all the members of The Slaps have completely different ones – from DJing to family, from internal monologues to the natural rhythms of birds and bugs, the band proves that inspiration can truly strike at any time, from anywhere. As of late, boredom– it seems– is the biggest inspiration.
On whether the listener is ever a factor in the music they create, the band says, “We like the listener, we like telling them things, offering insights into our lives. Borrowing ancient wisdom, rephrase it to fit the preceptor’s prescriptions.”
In their music there is confrontation of personal dilemma, nothingness and spontaneity– “We write in hopes that the listener will never feel the urge to skip a track.”
And it works. There isn't a single track of theirs that feels irrelevant, or worth skipping– every song is crafted with the same level of care and precision.
In these unprecedented times, the members of The Slaps have all turned to different hobbies: from reading and breadmaking to repainting guitars, watching Sex and the City, and not bathing as much, it seems like they've got the lockdown figured out.
Their future goals and plans range from a new album to visiting the dentist and learning Spanish. There is also the matter of some allergies that need to be attended to, once this is all over.
Sonically, meanwhile, they would like to explore more drastic and dramatic sounds, “take a couple steps into the rain, outside this indie umbrella”, they explain.
And what is it that The Slaps would like their audience to take from their music? Apart from the fact that they're just in it for the money (of course), they would like their audience to take the energy that their music gives out, to know that they genuinely love playing the music they create, and love their listeners.
They suggest the listener could add to their music, instead of taking something away from it– they could start bringing their own instruments to shows.
With their music being so genuine and exceptionally brilliant, listening to The Slaps is not something you will ever regret– their music wraps you up in its beautiful sound and makes you feel every feeling at the same time.
I learned that the very first time I listened to them on an especially bad day, and since then, their music has stayed– a rock– unwavering.
With the amount of innovation and regard that goes into creating their music, it is strikingly clear that there are more beautiful things in store for The Slaps.
